Aims. To understand the morphology of the chromosphere in sunspot umbra. We investigate if the horizontal structures observed in the spectral core of the Ca II H line are ephemeral visuals caused by the shock dynamics of more stable structures, and e
xamine their relationship with observables in the H-alpha line. Methods. Filtergrams in the core of the Ca II H and H-alpha lines as observed with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope are employed. We utilise a technique that creates composite images and tracks the flash propagation horizontally. Results. We find 015 wide horizontal structures, in all of the three target sunspots, for every flash where the seeing was moderate to good. Discrete dark structures are identified that are stable for at least two umbral flashes, as well as systems of structures that live for up to 24 minutes. We find cases of extremely extended structures with similar stability, with one such structure showing an extent of 5. Some of these structures have a correspondence in H-alpha but we were unable to find a one to one correspondence for every occurrence. If the dark streaks are formed at the same heights as umbral flashes then there are systems of structures with strong departures from the vertical for all three analysed sunspots. Conclusions. Long-lived Ca II H filamentary horizontal structures are a common and likely ever-present feature in the umbra of sunspots. If the magnetic field in the chromosphere of the umbra is indeed aligned with the structures, then the present theoretical understanding of the typical umbra needs to be revisited.
In the present work we derive a Differential Emission Measure (DEM) dis- tribution from a region dominated by spicules. We use spectral data from the Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation (SUMER) spectrometer on-board the Solar Heliosph
eric Observatory (SoHO) covering the entire SUMER wavelength range taken off-limb in the Northern polar coronal hole to construct this DEM distribution using the CHIANTI atomic database. This distribution is then used to study the thermal properties of the emission contributing to the 171 {AA} channel in the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on-board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). From our off-limb DEM we found that the radiance in the AIA 171 {AA} channel is dominated by emission from the Fe ix 171.07 {AA} line and has sparingly little contribution from other lines. The product of the Fe ix 171.07 {AA} line contribution function with the off-limb DEM was found to have a maximum at logTmax (K) = 5.8 indicating that during spicule observations the emission in this line comes from plasma at transition region temperatures rather than coronal. For comparison, the same product with a quiet Sun and prominence DEM were found to have a maximum at logT max (K) = 5.9 and logTmax (K) = 5.7, respectively. We point out that the interpretation of data obtained from the AIA 171 {AA} filter should be done with foreknowledge of the thermal nature of the observed phenomenon. For example, with an off-limb DEM we find that only 3.6% of the plasma is above a million degrees, whereas using a quiet Sun DEM, this contribution rises to 15%.
